Days before her planned gender reassignment surgery, a transgender model wowed audiences on the catwalk at London's Fashion Week, just two years after beginning hormone replacement therapy. Nicole Gibson, 32, took part in the Catwalk For Change campaign for Models of Diversity, a fashion showcase that sought to challenge the lack of diversity within the fashion industry. "The fashion show was amazing," said Gibson. "They say you have not really made it as a model until you walk along the catwalk in a sheer dress with your nipples showing -- and here I was doing it in my first show. Luckily, thanks to the hormones, I have quite a nice pair now. I didnt have time to get nervous, I was just so excited." Up until her 20s, Gibson identified as a gay man. She then started to wear women's clothing for a number of years before deciding to begin hormone replacement therapy. "To me it is just something that I have to do," stated Gibson. "It is like having two horns on my head that I have to get rid of to become the person that I have always felt I was inside.' Prior to embarking on her modeling … Continue reading →

Public release date: 18-Sep-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Sally Stewart sally.stewart@cshs.org 310-248-6566 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center LOS ANGELES (Embargoed Until 9 a.m. EDT/6 a.m. PDT on Sept. 18, 2013) Post-menopausal women whose doctors prescribe hormone replacement therapy for severe hot flashes and other menopause symptoms may want to consider taking low doses of Food and Drug Administration-approved bioidentical forms of estrogen or getting their hormones via a transdermal patch. A new observational study shows bioidentical hormones in transdermal patches may be associated with a lower risk of heart attack and FDA-approved products -- not compounded hormones -- may be associated with a slightly lower risk of stroke compared to synthetic hormones in pill form. "If confirmed by future randomized trials, these findings may be significant because for the past decade, many women who experienced severe menopause symptoms opted not to use hormone therapy because of the reported increased risk of stroke and heart attacks," said Chrisandra Shufelt, MD, director of the Women's Hormone and Menopause Program at the Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center in the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. Shufelt said the study's findings are not conclusive and are based on observational follow-up, not a randomized clinical trial. Additionally, … Continue reading →

Newswise LOS ANGELES (EMBARGOED until 9 a.m. EDT/6 a.m. PDT on Sept. 18, 2013) Post-menopausal women whose doctors prescribe hormone replacement therapy for severe hot flashes and other menopause symptoms may want to consider taking low doses of Food and Drug Administration-approved bioidentical forms of estrogen or getting their hormones via a transdermal patch. A new observational study shows bioidentical hormones in transdermal patches may be associated with a lower risk of heart attack and FDA-approved products -- not compounded hormones -- may be associated with a slightly lower risk of stroke compared to synthetic hormones in pill form. If confirmed by future randomized trials, these findings may be significant because for the past decade, many women who experienced severe menopause symptoms opted not to use hormone therapy because of the reported increased risk of stroke and heart attacks, said Chrisandra Shufelt, MD, director of the Womens Hormone and Menopause Program at the Barbra Streisand Womens Heart Center in the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. Shufelt said the studys findings are not conclusive and are based on observational follow-up, not a randomized clinical trial. Additionally, all types of hormone therapy had similar rates of total cardiovascular outcomes and all-cause mortality, the study … Continue reading →